Despite the Las Vegas Raiders’ another weak start to the season in the NFL, German fullback Jakob Johnson remains optimistic and warned against writing off his team early.
After the somewhat surprising 12:30 defeat at the Chicago Bears in Week 7, the Raiders are back with a negative record (3-4) and once again have a rocky road towards the playoffs – they are currently ranked 12th in the AFC -, which they had clearly missed last year with a 6-11 record. But there’s no reason for Johnson to give up: “The final chapter for the season hasn’t been written yet,” said Johnson in his “What happens in Vegas” podcast.
Johnson continued: “We know we have a good team. This can all happen very quickly and we turn things around.” But that would probably also require a win next Monday against the Detroit Lions. The team led by German-American Amon-Ra St. Brown has already won five of seven games and is leading its own NFC North division.
Raiders: declaration of war by Jakob Johnson
Johnson therefore sent a declaration of war to Michigan: “I know that we can be a tough team and we are working hard to make sure that it shows on Monday.”
Johnson also emphasized that they would not be blinded by the Lions’ recent 38-6 defeat at the Baltimore Ravens: “It’s tough when you’re a team like that and then you just sleep through a week. That’s bound to happen to them “Not twice. I expect them to put in their top performance against us.”
One reason for hope for Las Vegas is the likely return of quarterback Jimmy Gaoppolo, who was recently missing due to injury. His backups Brian Hoyer and rookie Aidan O’Connell failed to keep the offense on track.